The Warren Witch
by Katriona
Summary: One thousand years after Melinda Warren's death, her line has come down to just one person - sixteen-year-old Regina Warren. When Gina finds out the truth about her biological family - as well as the woman who raised her - will she be able to handle it?
1. Default Chapter

The Warren Witch  
  
  
Summary: One thousand years after Melinda Warren's death, her line has come down to just one person - sixteen-year-old Regina Warren. When Gina finds out the truth about her biological family - as well as the woman who raised her - will she be able to handle it?  
  
Setting: San Francisco, CA, Year 2654  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Melinda, Prue, Piper, Phoebe, Paige, the Book of Shadows, or anything else recognisable. Gina, and any other characters not from the show, are mine.  
  
A/N: Please review. And, yanno, read the thing. But yeah...  
  
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"Gina, you're going to be late!"  
  
"I'm coming!" Regina Warren called down to her foster mother. Sighing, the fifteen-year-old ran a comb through her hair one more time, and ran down to the kitchen, taking the stairs two at a time.  
  
She paused to admire the slender, beautiful woman standing behind the kitchen counter. Gina couldn't put her finger on it, but there had always been something about her foster mother that gave off a comforting, warm feeling, and at the same time inspired awe. The feeling was... Well, it was almost magical.  
  
"Gi, your lunch money's on the table. You've got a few minutes, want some breakfast?" her foster mother offered.  
  
"Just coffee." Gina said.   
  
Her foster mother poured her a cup, but also pushed a granola bar across the counter at her. "Hey, what do you want to do for your birthday tomorrow? I was thinking we could go out to dinner. Or we can stay here, and I can cook. Or something."  
  
Gina shrugged. She ate the granola bar and downed the coffee, then looked at the clock and swore. "Damn, I am going to be late."  
  
Her foster mother handed Gina her backpack and gave her a quick kiss. "Have a good day, sweetie," she said.  
  
Gina nodded and flew out the door, calling back to her foster mother, "Love you, Prue!" 


	2. 

Prue watched her foster daughter leave for school, then ran upstairs to the attic.  
  
The house was a family heirloom. It had been passed down from mother to daughter for a millenium. A lot of things had changed in the house since Prue had grown up there, but the attic remained pretty much the same. There was dust on the windows, old toys, clothing, and family heirlooms strewn around on mismatching pieces of furniture, and, in the center of the room, an ancient, leather-bound book.  
  
Prue walked over to the book and touched it lovingly. She opened it, running her fingers over the spells her grandmother had written, and her mother, and herself, and her younger sisters. Tomorrow, it would be Regina's turn. Prue couldn't wait. She was more than a little nervous about how Gina would react to the discovery. She smiled, remembering her own reaction to finding out who she really was. She hoped her foster daughter wouldn't be as difficult to win over as she was. Prue doubted that it would be a problem - she'd raised Gina knowing full well that it would come to this, and she'd spent the past twelve years preparing her for it. Prue liked to think she'd done as good a job as Gina's mother would have done, had she survived...  
  
Prue bit her lip, and wiped away a single tear. Why was it that women in her family almost always died young?  
  
Prue gasped. She looked up, and mouthed the word, "now?" She sighed, closed the book, and disappeared in a swirl of bright white lights. 


	3. 

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A/N: OK, i know the last two chapters were really short. Exams and all, I haven't had time to write much. Don't worry, the next ones will be longer. Of course, the more reviews I get, the more motivated I am to write more. *g*  
  
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When Prue reappeared, she was dressed in white and standing on what looked like a giant cloud. Around her, figures dressed in white robes identical to her own were milling about.  
  
Prue walked into a large room, with a long, rectangular table. Around the table were nine people: the Elders.  
  
One Elder, Romolis, motioned for Prue to sit down. She did, looking at him curiously.  
  
"Prudence, we called you to discuss your charge, Regina Warren." Romolis began.  
  
A female Elder, Aesa, continued. "We know Regina will find the Book of Shadows tomorrow night, on her sixteenth birthday. We trust that you're aware of the rules?"  
  
Prue nodded, not bothering to speak. She'd always despised their rules, and this was no exception.  
  
Myriah, another Elder, listed them. "You can't help her tomorrow, Prudence. This is something she has to do alone, like you did."  
  
"But at least I had my sisters!" Prue exclaimed. "Gina doesn't have anyone-"  
  
"Exactly!" Castor, a fourth Elder, cut her off. "She is the last Warren witch alive. She's the most powerful witch in existence, without her, we'd be immensely weakened. The balance between good and evil would shift in their favour, maybe irreversibly."  
  
"Which is why she needs me there." Prue argued. "She needs someone to guide her, isn't that what whitelighters are for?"  
  
"Prudence," Romolis said warningly. Prue wrinkled her nose. She hated being called by her full name. Romolis ignored her. "Prudence," he said again, this time in a more gentle tone, "you can be there for Regina the day after, when she's had a few hours to let it sink in. But you can not be anywhere near the attic tomorrow. Do you understand me?"  
  
Prue sighed. She hated it, but she knew she didn't have a choice. "Allright. Yes, I understand."  
  
"Good." Romolis said, smiling her. Elders technically weren't supposed to play favourites, but he'd always had a soft spot for Prue. He knew the last few centuries had been difficult for her, and he'd never seen her as happy as she had been the past twelve years, raising Regina. He smiled to himself, thinking of the way her striking blue eyes lit up whenever they discussed her charge.  
  
The Elders dismissed her, and Prue orbed back into the manor just in time to hear the click of the front door closing. Regina was home from school.  
  
"Prue?" she called.  
  
"I'll be down in a second, sweetie."  
  
Regina put her backpack down under the table in the foyer, then went into the living room and collapsed onto the couch. In a minute, Prue was sitting next to her.  
  
"How was school?" she asked.  
  
"It was... okay." she replied slowly. She started to say more, but stopped. How could she explain that weird feeling she'd been having all day? The one that said something was going to happen, something that would change her more than she could possibly imagine?  
  
Prue didn't need her whitelighter powers to sense what her young charge was feeling. She'd gone through the same thing, right before her life had turned upside-down.  
  
Prue, pretending not to notice that anything was wrong, asked Gina the usual obligatory parental questions: did you get any homework, any tests to study for, any reports due, etc. Then Gina went to do her homework while Prue cooked supper. Half an hour later, they ate dinner and talked about various things, mainly what Gina wanted for her birthday. By the time they went to bed, Gina had almost completely forgotten the strange feelings she'd been having. 


	4. 

Regina woke up the next morning, and quickly showered and dressed. When she got downstairs, Prue was waiting for her with a full spread of eggs, pancakes, and French toast for breakfast, same as every year.  
  
"Hey, you," she greeted, leaning over to give her foster-daughter a kiss. "You look taller."  
  
"No, you're just shrinking," Gina teased. This exchange was as much a tradition as their morning meal. However, this year she really did feel different. She mentioned this to her foster mother.  
  
"Of course you feel different," Prue reasoned. "It's your Sweet Sixteen. You, my darling girl, are officially on your way to becoming an adult." Then, to hide the real reason she knew was behind Gina's odd feeling, she pretended to get all misty-eyed. "My little girl is getting older. It seems like it was just yesterday that you were four years old, jumping into my arms every time I walked through the door... And now, you're all grown up..." She let out a heavy, exaggerated sigh.  
  
Gina nudged her. "Hey, who says I'm going to grow up? I could turn out just like you, yanno..."  
  
"Is that a compliment, or a threat?" Prue questioned. Gina just smiled.  
  
"I think it's a bit of both."  
  
Prue and Gina turned to see their handyman, Colin Coutts, letting himself in through the back door. Prue had gotten the Elders' permission to hire Colin on the grounds that houses as old as hers - even houses protected by magic, as the manor most certainly was - always had something falling apart, and if Prue used her powers to fix everything, sooner or later Regina was bound to get suspicious, especially since mechanics was not one of Prue's many talents. Over the years, Colin had grown quite close to the small family. What the Elders didn't know, however, was that to Prue he was more than just a family friend. She smiled at him, and gave him a hug, making sure to keep it brief just in case she was being watched. He didn't seem to notice, as he turned his attention to the birthday girl.  
  
"Happy Sixteenth," he said, giving Gina a peck on the cheek.  
  
"Thanks, Col," she said. "You hungry? Prue's cooked too much, as usual."  
  
"Oh, be quiet, I only get to do this once a year," Prue said.  
  
"That's because you hate cooking," Gina reminded her.  
  
"Ohhh, right," Prue agreed, nodding as if she'd just realized this. She turned to Colin. "So, you hungry?"  
  
Colin smiled at her. "Sure. Just promise me it's not poisoned."  
  
Gina sucked in a deep breath. "I dunno, it could be kinda dicey..."  
  
Prue elbowed her. "Oh, come on, I'm not that bad. Am I, Colin?"  
  
He put up both hands and took a step backward. "Oh no, I am not getting in between the two of you."  
  
"And what is so bad about the two of us?" Gina asked in mock defensiveness.  
  
"Nothing, aside from the way the two of you fight like hell one minute and can't be pried apart with a crowbar the next."  
  
"We're close. Sue us," Prue replied.  
  
"I would, but then I wouldn't get any breakfast," Colin responded, sitting down at the table. Prue and Gina exchanged rolling eyes before joining him, and the three proceeded to dig in.  
  
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-  
  
Everything else about Gina's day went normally, and she temporarily forgot about the sinking feeling she'd had earlier. However, it returned full-force as soon as she got home.  
  
"Hey, honey," Prue greeted, breezing down the stairs as Gina came through the front door. "How was school?"  
  
"Pretty good," Gina answered. "Alex and Hallie remembered my birthday. They decorated my locker and everything."  
  
"Sounds nice," Prue mused.  
  
Gina shrugged. "Yeah, but the real surprise was when Alex jumped up on one of the desks in homeroom and started singing 'Happy Birthday'. He says it was to get me back for going into the principal's office and announcing his birthday over the loudspeaker."  
  
Prue raised her eyebrows. "You did what?"  
  
"I thought Hallie told you about that," Gina said sheepishly. "She kept threatening to. Don't worry, I didn't get caught."  
  
"And that's supposed to be reassuring?" Prue questioned.  
  
"Oh, don't even try to tell me you didn't do the same thing in high school," Gina warned.  
  
"I did no such thing," Prue denied. "And besides, what I did in high school is irrelevent, because it's ancient history."  
  
"It can't have been that long ago," Gina countered, studying her foster mother. Prue didn't look a day over 29. In fact, aside from a few minor changes in clothing and hair styles, she hadn't changed at all for as far back as Gina could remember. She shrugged, chalking it up to good luck.  
  
"Trust me," Prue said, "It's been a while."  
  
Gina sighed, deciding not to press the matter. Any time she'd ever tried to find out anything about the woman raising her, Prue would deflect the questions and change the subject. Aside from the fact that Prue's own mother had died when Prue was just a little girl, a fact that Prue had let slip when she'd first come to live with Gina in order to commiserate with the small child, Gina knew absolutely nothing about Prue's past.  
  
Prue knew how much this fact bothered Gina, but there was nothing she could do. It had been hard enough getting custody of her in the first place, considering she'd been dead for several hundred years by then. Prue couldn't risk anyone finding out who and what she really was, not even Gina herself, which meant avoiding discussion of her life entirely, lest she break down and confess everything.  
  
Gina glanced at the grandfather clock in the hall, and saw they'd been standing there for a quarter of an hour now. "So, um, should I go get changed?"  
  
Prue nodded. "Yeah. I made early dinner reservations for us at that Italian place you like. If we don't hurry, we'll be late."  
  
Gina stepped around her, rushing up the stairs.  
  
"Hey, Regina," Prue called softly.  
  
A wistful quality in her guardian's voice made Gina turn around, stopping dead in her tracks.  
  
Prue looked up at her charge, already filled with a deep remorse for what was going to happen later that night. She hated the idea of Gina going through this alone, but as the Elders explained to her many times, it had to be this way. Prue wanted nothing more than to tell Gina everything. Instead, she simply said, "I love you."  
  
Regina paused, troubled, unsure of what had brought this on. One look into Prue's eyes told her that it had something to do with the forboding feelings she'd been experiencing lately. Another look told her not to ask, so instead she replied, "I love you, too," and, knowing nothing about what was to come, hurried back upstairs.  
  
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A/N: A few people have e-mailed me requesting updates for this one, so here you go. I wasn't planning on updating this one for a while, because usually the fics that get the most reviews are the ones that get the most attention, and this ones really far behind compared to my other fics, so if you want to see more of this one you need to let me know. Review, pretty please? 


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